Kichizan Minchō

Self portrait

Kannon in a white robe

Kichizan Minchō ( Japanese 吉山明 兆 ; born 1352 in Awaji-shima ; died September 26, 1431 in Kyoto ) was a Japanese painter-monk of the Ashikaga period .

life and work

Kichizan Minchō entered the Tōfuku-ji in Kyoto to turn to Zen . He studied under the Zen master Daidō Ichii ( 大道 一 以 ; 1292-1370), the then head of the temple. Minchō was assigned to the overseer (Densu) over the temple hall, so that he was called Chō Densu ( 兆 殿主 ). The seal with which he signed his works reads as "Seal of the broken straw sandaleb " ( 破 草鞋 , Hasōai ). It suggests that Minchō neglected his duties within the Zen practice and was therefore excluded from his teacher.

In 1385, Minchō painted a set of 50 panels representing the 500 rakans of early Buddhism. Not only is the color version still present and visible, most of the rough black and white preliminary drawings have also been preserved. - Since the Kenchō-ji in Kamakura owns pictures of the 500 rakan painted by the Chinese painter Yan Hui ( 顏 輝 , late 13th century) and other artists, some art historians believe that Minchō traveled there to study and to use them largely as a template for his own work.

In 1394 Minchō painted a portrait of Daidō Ichii, which is now in the Nara National Museum. In 1408 he designed the scroll "[Buddha's] entry into nirvana" ( 涅槃 図 ) owned by Tōfuku-ji. The dragon painting in the law hall ( 法堂 , Hattō ) of Tōfuku-ji dates from 1428 . The Tōfuku-ji also owns various ink or color paintings on Buddhist themes, as well as portraits of important monks in the Zen style, known as Chinsō ( 頂 相 ). These include the painting “Thirty-three Kannon” ( 三十 三 観 音 図 , Sanjūsan Kannon-zu ), the painting of Daruma , the Chinese monks Han-Shan and Shide ( 拾得 ), the immortal Tianguai with the toad, the Zen master Enni Ben ' en , the founder of the temple. These works show large-scale figures, a strong brushstroke and strong color contrast.

It is also said that Minchō was the painter of picture scrolls from landscapes and Chinese poems ( 詩 画軸 , Shiga-jiku ). "Small house in the shadow of the valley" ( 渓 陰 小築 図 , Keiin shōjiku-zu ; national treasure ) from 1413, today owned by Konchi-in in Kyōto, and the picture scroll "Green Mountains and White Clouds" are ascribed to him. ( 青山 白雲 , Seizan hakuun ), which he painted before 1420. So it can be said that not only was he a master of Buddhist-themed images, he was also a pioneer of landscape painting in the 15th century.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Owned by the MOA Art Museum , An Important Cultural Asset of Japan .

literature

• Tazawa, Yutaka: “Kichizan Minchō”. In: Biographical Dictionary of Japanese Art. Kodansha International, 1981. ISBN 0-87011-488-3 .
• Laurance P. Roberts: “Kichizan Minchō”. In: A Dictionary of Japanese Artists. Weatherhill, 1976. ISBN 0-8348-0113-2 .

Web links

Commons : Kichizan Minchō  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus, Kichizan is the family name, Minchō the first name.